Cherries out for revenge says Marvin

05 April 2010 07:00

MARVIN Bartley insists Cherries will be out for revenge when they face Rochdale today but is keen to play down his previous brush with hard man Nathan Stanton.

Bartley was the victim of a dreadful two-footed challenge by Stanton when Dale inflicted a surprise 4-0 defeat on Cherries at Dean Court in October.

His X-rated lunge saw him sent off and added fuel to a fire that had been sparked by some inflammatory pre-match comments from Dale boss Keith Hill.

Hill lit the blue touchpaper when he took a swipe at Cherries' financial predicament and claimed Eddie Howe's squad had been built on money the club never had.

In a feature in a recent matchday programme, when asked to describe the worst foul he had ever seen, Bartley's team-mate Liam Feeney said: It would have to be Stanton's on Marvin. that is one of the worst I've ever seen. It was totally unnecessary and is still fresh in our minds!

Bartley will again go head to head with Stanton when Cherries meet the leaders at Spotland in a potential League Two humdinger between first and third (3pm kick-off).

However, despite hoping to erase the memory of Cherries' heavy home reverse, Bartley is adamant he has no personal score to settle with Stanton.

He told the Daily Echo: We definitely owe them one and I am sure we will give a better account of ourselves. We will be looking to get something out of the game.

What went on before is all water under the bridge. It's not me against him, it's Bournemouth against Rochdale. Trying to get three points is the priority for us and is certainly a lot more important than anything with whatever his name is (Stanton).

Bartley could again be asked to deputise at centre-back with Shaun Cooper and Jason Pearce unlikely to be in contention. Cooper is struggling with an Achilles injury, while Pearce has still not fully recovered from a broken toe.

Cherries boss Howe was also keen to avoid opening any old wounds, despite having been annoyed by Hill's comments when the two sides met in October.

It doesn't matter what he says about us, said Howe. We know what we do. We know how we run the club now so I don't have any questions to answer.

Previewing the Dale clash following Cherries' 1-0 win over Bradford on Saturday, Howe said: The result enables us to go into the game with even more confidence with maybe a little more freedom.

We've got nothing to fear. I don't think we've had anything to fear from the first day. We're a good side and I think we're proving that. We want to give them a good game.

They are a good side and have done really well this season. They are rightly top of the league and we're not doing too badly so it should be a really good game.